From the moment we met, we were star-crossed lovers—always wanting, never having. We loved each other for most of our lives, but right from the beginning destiny had other plans. She knew we would fall in love. She knew we would fall apart. Over and over again, like the curse of a recurring nightmare. Or the hope of a familiar dream.

Our past was tumultuous. Our future was bleak. But the one thing we always had was the beautiful now.

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We didn’t have a future. We couldn’t possibly. We both knew it. But we had the now. The beautiful now. And that was better than nothing.

Oh my heart. My poor little heart. It’s absolute putty in the talented hands of M. Leighton. This woman knows how to write a book that tugs at absolutely every heart string. A book that equally breaks your heart and warms it at the same time. The Beautiful Now was a beautiful, gripping, and simply unforgettable second chance romance. It was unique and unlike anything I’ve read lately, and I loved every emotional page of it.

I knew people looked at him and just saw a poor worker’s boy, not of much importance. But deep down, where their eyes couldn’t see, he was a lot more. Something told me he was everything.

Sometimes social classes, the ignorance of parents, and the innocence of youth could cost you everything. That was exactly what Brinkley experienced as a teenager. At twelve years old she met a boy on the wrong side of her social class that made her question everything. At fifteen she realized that he meant everything to her but she could never have him. He worked her stepfather’s field, and her mother expected her to keep up appearance of a family of their class. But that didn’t stop feelings from forming. Nothing like her family, Brinkley fell hard and fast, even though she did everything to avoid the boy that she was continuously warned away from.

we were on two different sides of that fact. He was a rock and I was as fluid as the ocean. He knew exactly who he was and what he wanted, while I took on the form of whatever contained me, whoever I was around.

At seventeen the love bloomed into a one in a lifetime. The odds were always stacked against them, but no one expected for it all to fall apart in the way that it did.

Dane James. He was my relief. He was my exhale. He was my rock.

Now years later, Brinkley is back in a town she hated and couldn’t run further away from. Her reasons for coming back are as undeniable as her feelings for the boy that stole her heart all those years ago. She doesn’t expect to ever see him again. She doesn’t expect to fall for him all over again. And she definitely doesn’t expect the road that life has waiting for her.

The story is told in alternating parts of past to present. It’s flawlessly woven together to build a gripping and incredibly emotional story. You get to see the young and somewhat innocent Brinkley grow into a strong and incredible woman. Her dedication to those she cares about, her ability to finally stand up for what she believes, all of it shows a woman that had to grow up hard but learned from it.

As for Dane, I have no words. This is not your typical alpha overload hero. He’s definitely still an alpha, but in this endearing understated way. He made my swoons have swoons.

He felt necessary to my heart, to my head, to my very existence, and nothing in the world mattered except him. Being close to him. Having him against me, around me, inside me.

This was a slow paced and highly emotional romance that enjoyed from cover to cover. For those craving something a little different but packed full of feelings, this is a book you need to read.